A ray of hope
by seriouslysirius08
Summary: Carlisle s POV during Breaking Dawn. Carlisle is having doubts of his family s future. With Bella pregnant and his family at odds he has to keep his family together but how can he when he is having doubts himself? Canon. Please R
1. Realization

Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

This story is from Carlisle´s POV of a certain event in Breaking Dawn. I know that this has been done many times but I wanted to take a little bit different view of it. It´s also canon so no worries that I´m changing any of the storyline. This is just my take of what happened in Carlisle´s mind. If there are any mistakes I am very sorry about that.

Enjoy the story. Please R&R

* * *

A ray of hope

I had always been a true believer. I had been raised that way, God, heaven and hell existed in my world. The Bible being a true companion in the darkest of times where I could find some evidence that my forsaken existence would not end in the flaming fires of hell.

There had to be taken some credit for trying, at least I hoped so. In my believes many claimed me to be a fool, a dreamer of dreams which would not come true. Some of my former acquaintances stated that my still young mind would grow out of those kinds of thoughts, yet time passed and my believes stayed put. Maybe I was too stubborn to claim defeat but I was a man of God and I would not give up on my faith.

Although I did believe there were times when a trace of doubt appeared, I told myself that it was because of my rational mind. My profession insisted upon rational and critical thinking.

It was in my nature to question things, I was in general overly curious and I drunk in every knowledge that was available. Knowledge was very important to me, for I remember the time when knowledge and education were not so common where poverty and death ruled the world.

Therefore I was eternally grateful that I received the chance to learn, a chance to see the world change into a word where people could live without fear. Since I was a man of knowledge, having studied my entire life, dedicated myself to the science: I had been trained to question the world around me. Of course the world had changed, in my time every single child was raised to believe in God but now science has taken the throne, throwing religion out of its steady throne. Today as a scientist I was told that God and science could not combine therefore I should cast away my old religious believes.

I resented the 21st century believes, where people believed only in the darkest of times and prayed whenever they felt like it. Although I resented the new ideas although I had developed a certain fault which seemed to afflict most of human kind: the bad habit to question the world around me.

I cannot deny that it had crossed my mind God´s purpose. I had never questioned his existence, not even the fact that I had been thrown into the endless abyss of immortality where I should be doomed forever. But I did question him and his methods: why bad things happened to good people, why murderers, rapists, terrorists and generally bad people existed in the world.

However there was a voice in my head that said it wasn´t my place to question him, he must have his reasons. Sometimes I wondered whether he was trying to teach humanity, teach them so they would not make the same mistakes they had done before. Yet I didn´t understand, sometimes it seemed that humankind (and vampires) didn´t learn from former mistakes.

In the century I was born in, many intellectuals tried to do exactly the same thing, figuring out God´s reasons. They were driven by the fear of the eternal flames of hell. People of that age feared damnation above anything else, then religion was the only thing in the world that could bring them peace.

In a world of plagues, poverty, hunger and death the only light in that dark existence was God. Faith was the only thing that brought them hope. I am glad for many reasons that the world view I was raised in has disappeared but then again I feel the loss of hope and the beautiful hope that afterlife would bring people something good. In those times people feared not death, they embraced it believing that they were entering a life so much better. Today people fear death; fear the unknown which is tragic, mankind is so fragile.

Sometimes the rational voice in my head became silent and I seeked answers which I couldn´t answer.

This was one of these moments, the moments where I had to question Him.

Although those where the moments where I needed my faith the most. My family relied on it, sometimes I think that they relied on me too much, putting their trust in my hands; so therefore I had to stay strong- for their sake.

But these moments were becoming more frequent, the last couple of years had been tough to say the least. First with the arrival of Bella and the impossible fight my son had to battle so that he could be with her. Then the series of events following his decision to stay with her, it seemed that nothing but misfortune followed their every step. A certain event few months ago entered my mind; the fight against Victoria had left nothing but fear, fear that we would lose our entire family, although it had strengthened us exceedingly and strengthened our bonds. But I would never want to go through that again; the fear of losing the one thing that makes you a whole person, that makes you a good person.

After these eventful couple of years I had hoped that the fight would mean the end of it all.

But I had this nagging feeling that it was not the end and that something bad would occur sooner rather than later.

The few peaceful months we had were fairly uneventful but I knew it was just the calm before the storm. But out of all things I had imagined that would raise the storm _this_ was the last thing I would have imagined. The most likely thing had been a visit from the Volturi but never in a hundred years had I imagined that this would happen. That this was possible, but then again nothing seemed impossible these days.

It all started two days ago. I was alone in my study; I had taken the day off so I decided to read since it was unusually quiet in the house: Esme had taken Rosalie out to Port Angeles and the boys had gone hunting. That meant that me and Alice were alone in the house, it had surprised me that Alice had insisted to stay when Esme had offered her to join them.

Therefore I took liberty of the long earned peace and quiet and took out one of my favorite pieces of English literature. The book was torn and vulnerable since it was my original copy from 1667 when it was first published.

How ironic it seems to me now that I chose that particular piece, Paradise lost by John Milton. The title said it all although the context of the work itself was what evoked that particular feeling.

Paradise Lost had been my favorite work in years, the craftsmanship of it was of a pure genius, the richness of detail and use of language were masterfully crafted.

When I first read it in 1667 I knew that my father would have disapproved of it. It was complete contrast to what the bible said, he saw sin everywhere around him. Salvation was gained if you had faith in God.

I admired Milton for his views, that they gained salvation although they had sinned. I found comfort in his words and they mirrored my own believes brilliantly.

In Paradise Lost he was trying to seek the answers people had been asking for centuries, what is the purpose of humankind? What was God´s intention? Milton came to the conclusion that while sin invaded the earth, humankind could seek salvation by going God´s way.

As I read Edward appeared in my mind. I cannot comprehend how many times we had fought about this particular topic. He couldn´t believe how I could have faith in our kind, to him we were damned regardless. To him we were lost souls, biting the sour apple of our cursed existence. In Edward´s world there was no hope. Therefore his determination made my hope even stronger, when I was changed I only had to worry about my own soul but when Edward came I had to pray for his too.

How could I believe that he could be damned? I refused to believe it.

As I was marveling over this I heard a loud knock on my door, by the lavender and vanilla scent and the fast tapping of shoes I estimated that it was Alice. I put a bookmark on my worn book as I murmured a "come in". Alice stepped inside quickly her eyes cast downwards as she walked to my desk. She stopped right in front of me, although her eyes were glued to the floor I noticed the slight creasing of her brow.

Something was terribly wrong, my stomach churned as I guessed to whom her concerns were directed.

Edward and Bella came immediately to mind as it raced over the possibilities, there were so many things that could go wrong. I stepped around my desk and walked towards Alice, placing my hands on her thin shoulders. "What is the matter? What happened?" I questioned her trying to keep my voice even and calm. She looked up "I don´t know, Carlisle. I can´t see." She whispered in distress.

My mind raced trying to make sense out of her words. This had happened before but that was because she could not see past the wolfs, compared to her distress I guessed it had nothing to do with them.

"What can´t you see Alice?" I asked her gently, her eyes were distant for a second but then she shook her head.

"I can´t see Bella." The knot in my stomach turned.

My intuitiveness overtook and I grabbed my cell phone speed dialing Edward. Alice walked toward me with her hand outright "Can I talk to them?" I nodded and handed her the phone.

The phone rang, as the third ring came I began to worry. It was unusual for Edward to take so long to answer the phone and my worry grew. I glanced at Alice who stood nailed on the spot her eyes spacing in and out, searching for the unknown.

She seemed as surprised as I was, at the fourth ring someone answered. I heard a faint "Hi, Alice" the tone in Bella´s voice worried me. Alice seemed relieved as she answered her "Bella? Bella, are you okay?" her tone anxious. I heard her mention my name from the other line and I moved closer to Alice. "He is. What is the problem?" she demanded as she lifted her finger in my direction, giving me a signal to wait. "I´m not… one hundred percent… sure…" Bella hesitated.

"Is Edward all right?" she asked warily but added more demandingly "Why didn´t he pick up the phone?"

"I´m not sure." That answer caught me off guard, what could have possibly happened that Edward could not answer the phone? I extended my hand towards Alice, she didn´t seem to notice it and continued her voice pitching up "Bella, what´s going on? I just saw-"she stopped, that was the problem. She couldn´t see at all. Bella seemed to notice her hesitation as she asked frankly "What did you see?"

Alice stood there silent, marveling whether she should tell her the truth, she bit her lip then answered "Here´s Carlisle." She handed me the phone, I took the phone from her small hand

"Bella, it´s Carlisle. What´s going on?"

"I-"she began but paused. That pause frightened me more than anything else. It seemed that she wasn´t quite sure of the situation which made things even more conspicuous.

"I´m a little worried about Edward… Can vampires go into shock." That statement worried me greatly.

I did not know of any vampire going into shock and I wondered what could have possibly happened.

As a parent I assumed the worst "Has he been harmed?"

"No, no" she said quickly and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Just… taken by surprise." She added.

I frowned; this whole situation was getting absurd, what could have possibly surprised him in such a way?

"I don´t understand Bella."

"I think… well, I think that… maybe… I might be…" she paused and I heard her take a deep breath from the other line then she continued "Pregnant." My breath caught in my throat the word echoing in my head. Out of every possibility I could never have guessed that this would happen. I barely noticed Alice beside me who stood as perplexed as I did. Then my mind kicked in gear, hundreds of questions entering my brain. First of all, how could that happen? Secondly, there must be a mistake. My intuitiveness caught in as I bombed questions at her. "When was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?"

"Sixteen days before the wedding." She answered immediately, that meant she was five days late.

There was always the possibility that she had an anovulation, it was common that that happened after flight. However I could not make such haste judgment, there could be a possibility that she was pregnant.

"How do you feel?"

"Weird," her voice broke in the end. That did not excess my hopes, she was worried and it pained me to not be able to be there for her.

"This is going to sound crazy- look, I know it´s way too early for any of this. Maybe I am crazy. But I´m having bizarre dreams and eating all the time and crying and throwing up and… and… I swear something moved inside me just now?"

I froze, the usual symptoms of pregnancy included nausea, excessive tiredness and craving for certain food but to _feel_ the baby move was not possible so early in the pregnancy. I was almost certain that she was pregnant but the whole problem now was what it was she was carrying. It was a fact that she was not carrying a normal baby, considering the baby was half-vampire/half-human I feared the worst.

"Um, I think Edward wants to talk to you." Bella´s voice from the other line snapped me out of my thoughts. "Put him on" I tried to keep my calm, there would be a way. I heard faint ruffling as she handed him the phone.

"Is it possible?" Edward whispered urgently. Well that was the big question, was it possible? I had read myths but none had ended well, in all of them both mother and child died. How could I tell Edward the truth when he was already on the verge of break down. I didn´t want to frighten him but he had to know the truth. I decided to tell him everything I knew: "Yes, I believe it to be possible. Since Bella is human it changes the situation. In female vampires the eggs stay frozen since the body does not change but it seems to differ for males. I have read myths of human women carrying a vampire child but as you might guess it did not end well for both mother and child." I finished, I disliked telling him it like this but he had to understand how severe the situation was.

"And Bella?" my son´s voice nearly broke at the end.

I hesitated then answered "It is most likely that the fetus grows quicker than a human one. It is not human and it goes against the nature of the human body so it will weaken her body, she might not make it in time." I paused; it was very likely that Bella would not survive this. We had no idea what we were facing, not even what it was.

"Edward… I´m afraid what this is and I believe that the only thing that will keep Bella alive is to remove the fetus. Although I dislike the idea, since we don´t know what is at stake but I can´t take the chance."

I paused, waiting for his argument but all I met was silence. I guess he didn´t want to scare Bella so I took it as a yes. "I´ll meet you at the airport, it will be all right." I swallowed then added "Edward please be careful."

"Yes. Yes, I will." Then the line went dead. I shut my phone and stared at the wall before me. How could it come to this? The life which I had so carefully built seemed to be falling apart like a deck of cards.

Alice stood few feet away completely perplexed, she relied so much on her visions that when they failed her she felt hopeless. She lived in a world where she was few steps ahead of everyone, without it she didn´t know how to act. She glanced at me worriedly before she skipped out of the room.

Leaving me alone to my thoughts. I placed my elbows on my desk and placed my head between my hands. I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out. I had to stay focused, Edward relied on me and I could not fail him. I thought of the task at hand, I had no idea how to remove the fetus and I didn´t know what effect it might have on Bella. But I was sure that if we didn´t do anything Bella would lose her life and I would lose Edward.

I moved my elbows from the desk, in the meantime dragging the book which I had laid on my desk when Alice came in. It dropped on the floor with a low thud; the worn copy barely managed the fall.

Milton´s Paradise Lost lay opened on the floor; I picked it up, the familiar passage written before me:

_What hither brought us, hate, not love, nor hope._  
_Of Paradise for Hell, hope here to taste_  
_Of pleasure, but all pleasure to destroy,_  
_Save what is in destroying, other joy_  
_To me is lost. Then let me not let pass_  
_Occasion which now smiles, behold alone._  
_(IX. 475-480)_

This passage I was very familiar with, where Satan decided to lure Eve into biting the forbidden fruit of the Tree of knowledge. This passage hit a nerve, where it contained nothing but the desire to destroy. It was Satan in his full form mocking me right before my eyes bringing those hateful words at the worst of times. It seemed that life brought nothing but fear, despair and hopelessness.

In the short time of happiness I almost believed that this would end well for Edward and Bella but now it seemed that paradise was lost to them forever. As that revelation came to my mind a new, familiar urge lightened. The urge to keep my family safe and that urge felt stronger now than ever. I would find a way to save them, if that meant I had to remove the fetus I would do it. It didn´t matter how I did it, all that mattered was that it was a threat and I oathed that I would do everything in my power to save Bella, to save my family.

* * *

Thank you for reading. I know that this has been done before but I wanted to do something different with this part of the story. Paradise lost by John Milton is actually one of the most famous work in English literature and since it was written in the 1600´s I thought that Carlisle might see it in a different light. Also I tried to find the passages that fitted in the story so if anyone thinks otherwise I won´t blame them since people see things differently. If there are any mistakes they are all mine and I am sorry of any mistakes in there.

Please review, it only takes a second and it means a lot to the author :)


	2. Fallen leader

Fallen leader

Many people think of me as a wise man. My family relies on my every move and decisions; if there is anything that they disagree on they turn to me for advice. First it made me extremely uncomfortable since it wasn´t really my place to tell anyone what to do. I had enough experience of that when I lived in Volterra. With time I began to embrace that role and I began to take charge although I was careful to respect everyone´s opinion. Sometimes that plan backfired; sometimes my family was so at odds that I had to take sides. When Edward had begged me to help him I had made a mistake which I had promised myself that I would never make. I hadn´t thought clearly, my parental instincts had blinded me. He sounded so helpless and frightened that I didn´t pause to think what the others would say.

My other children had accused me of caring for Edward more than them; well it was more Rosalie than anyone else. I had brushed off those accusations knowing that jealousy was all too common in my daughters' personality. But maybe she was right, maybe I cared more for him. It would explain why I didn´t even think about the fact that there might be objection from the other family members.

Worst of all: I didn´t even think what Bella would say, I had always thought that she was on the same line Edward was. I thought that she was scared and wanted the fetus out of her immediately. Apparently I was badly mistaken.

When we arrived at the airport I was more than surprised when Bella ran into Rosalie´s waiting arms.

By the terrified expression on Edward´s face I figured that he hadn´t suspected it either.

I was shocked, I was so sure that she wanted to get rid of the fetus. That she was terrified of the thing that was growing inside of her. To make things even worse was the fact that Rosalie took her role as her personal bodyguard very seriously. Neither I nor Edward could come close to her which was very inconvenient considering the fact that I had to examine her to determine what we were up against.

But above all else, the worst thing was the terrified look in Bella´s eyes when we tried to reason with her, making her understand the risk she was putting herself through. Her arms cradled her stomach as if she was protecting it from a threat, from me and Edward. My heart crumbled in tiny little pieces at the sight, the girl- no; the woman who had stolen my son´s heart, the woman who had become my daughter had cringed away from me. How could I be so irresponsible? What kind of person was I?

Most importantly, what kind of father was I?

Things went from ash to the fire when we arrived home. Lines were drawn; Emmett had rushed to Rosalie´s side and Esme had hovered over Bella. By the expression she gave me I knew she was not on my side of the line. Alice and Jasper had drawn back, standing in the furthest corner of the living room.

I stood rooted beside Edward; I had promised him to help him although I would not do so without Bella´s permission.

Things became ugly, the moment I had been dreading became to reality when Edward finally snapped.

"This is none of your business Rosalie; this is between me and Bella." He snarled at Rosalie which stood in front of Bella. Her eyes flashed, fire burning deep in her dark arises.

"Then why did she call me Edward? Huh, can you tell me that?" Edward growled fiercely, pain edged in his expression. Bella´s actions had wounded him deeply. Rosalie stood put while she continued.

"No, you can´t, can you? No, you just think of yourself and your own needs. Did it ever occur to you what Bella wanted? Of course not, because you are the perfect Edward who thinks that everyone does what he wants. You irresponsible, selfish-"

"Shut up Rosalie." Edward screamed at her in uncontrollable rage.

"If there is anyone here thinking about their own needs, it´s _you_. You wouldn´t help Bella if it weren´t for your own craving for a child. You, who didn´t even want her in the family, who hated her." He was losing it, his eyes were wild and he was in a half crouch like he was about to attack. Emmett seemed to see it too because he etched closer to Rosalie drawing out his full height. Rosalie stood like Edward, ready to attack if needed. She snarled at Edward.

"How dare you mention that? That is a part of the past; at least I am willing to help Bella. You don´t know what it is. It could be a baby, your child and you are willing to kill it." Edward paled but kept his hard expression nevertheless.

The tension could be cut with a knife, neither would bend, both ready to attack. It had gone too far, I had to stop them before this would turn into a fight. I was about to speak up when a low voice came from behind Rosalie. "Would you both stop?" Rosalie turned around. Bella´s pale fragile face appeared, her expression terrified although there was determination in her dark eyes.

Edward´s expression softened a bit, his jaw slackened and the fire in his eyes ceased. Instead a more pained expression crossed his face. Rosalie however was still in defensive position, her eyes shooting daggers.

Bella kept her eyes on Edward for a moment until she turned her head to Rosalie.

"Rosalie, please. I need to speak with Edward." She pleaded. Rosalie looked at her, hesitating a bit, her hard gaze softened a bit. Then she looked at Edward, she sighed then nodded. Edward stepped towards them but Rosalie lifted a finger "Ah, wait a minute Edward. With one exception, we will stay close and don´t even think about trying something." Edward nodded and she moved away, Emmett trailing behind.

Edward walked carefully towards Bella in slow painful steps. She gazed sadly into his face, hesitating before she wrapped her frail arms around him. He sighed as he buried his head in her hair.

"It will be all right Edward" she whispered faintly. His body tensed and he lifted his head up

"Bella, please see reason" he pleaded. "This is dangerous, we don´t know what it is that is growing inside of you." He caressed her cheek gently "I know that you are scared but you don´t have to be. Carlisle and I can take care of it easily, we-"

Bella put a hand on his lips, silencing him. "You´re right, I am afraid. But I´m only afraid of losing our child, I know you Edward and you couldn´t harm our child." She said firmly.

Edward´s face twisted in agony "Please don´t do this Bella. I can´t lose you, I…I just can´t" the pain in his voice tore my heart to pieces. I wished I could help him, that I could make everything go away.

"Edward, I won´t change my mind. I won´t let you harm our child." She said determined.

Edward squeezed his eyes shut "Bella" he said in defeat. By the sound of his voice I could hear that Bella had won- for now. I knew my son, he wouldn´t give up until he got his way.

Rosalie had moved slowly towards them her patience on its edge. "All right you had your moment, let her rest." She said sternly. Edward glanced at her warily "Rosalie, would you stop with the attitude. She is my wife." Rosalie´s face turned grim, an expression which didn´t suit her beautiful face.

"Well you´re not doing much of a job as a husband." Edward growled furiously. Emmett took his place beside Rosalie. "Don´t you dare, you are crossing the line." They stood against each other ready to attack. Bella who had hovered behind Edward walked forward her hands pressed up, standing between him and Rosalie. "Stop it, both of you. You aren´t making things any easier." She said angrily.

Her face was even paler than before, her legs shaking slightly from exhaustion. She had probably not slept in nearly two days and by the look of it had little nutrition. This was draining her out yet Edward and Rosalie seemed oblivious of the fragile girl standing between them.

I couldn´t bear to stand by, I had to interfere. I should have done so I walked towards them and stopped where Bella stood, her palms against Rosalie and Edward who both had murderous expressions.

"Edward, Rosalie this will do. Can´t you see what you are doing to Bella?" I placed a hand on Bella´s shoulder receiving a low hiss from Rosalie. I gazed warily at her "Rosalie, I thought you knew me better. I would never do anything unless Bella agrees to it." I reassured her, she looked shamefully down.

"Now Bella, you look exhausted but I would like to examine you before you go to sleep." Rosalie opened her mouth as if she was about to protest but Bella was quicker "It´s all right Rosalie, he is just going to examine me." She looked pointedly at her. Rosalie sighed and nodded her head, then she glared at me.

"Carlisle if you will try anything, so help me God." Rosalie growled. I sighed "Rosalie, calm down. I am only thinking about her health, if you want the child safe then I will have to do my job." I said sternly.

She frowned but kept silent, she walked to Esme which stood few feet away.

I examined Bella as thoroughly as possible. Her state was even worse than I expected, it seemed that the fetus was taking her nutrition. It was growing quickly too, there was already a small bump forming, appearing like she was few months pregnant instead of few days. The most unnerving thing were the bruises that were forming on her extending stomach. I knew that she couldn´t possibly make it through the whole pregnancy, the fetus was growing too quickly taking every substance she needed.

She fell asleep soon afterwards, Rosalie hovering close by.

The house fell completely silent although the intensity still lingered. Esme decided to do some late grocery shopping for Bella and Alice and Jasper decided to go out to hunt. I knew that they just wanted to escape the tense atmosphere between Edward and Rosalie.

I decided to use the time while everything was calmer to do some research, knowing that the next few days would require my presence. Although Edward and Rosalie where at complete odds I knew that they wouldn´t do anything reckless without my permission.

So I took leave into my study trying to sort out through my books. I was in the middle of a Latin American history book when I heard a low knock on the door. "Come in" I said absentmindedly.

The door opened and Edward walked in, his jaw was set and his lips formed a thin line. I had anticipated his visit, knowing that he was angry with me.

"Edward" I sighed, placing my hand on his shoulder but he brushed it off. I tried to conceal my hurt but I knew that few things escaped Edward.

"Why? Why didn´t you do anything? I thought we had talked it through" he whispered angrily.

"Edward, we were both too hasty. We… I, didn´t think about Bella´s opinion of this. I can´t do it without her permission." I soothed but that seemed to anger him even more.

"Carlisle you know that she doesn´t understand the risk, we have to do something. You can´t just…"

He trailed off breathing in and out trying to calm himself then he continued "I can´t lose her, she won´t survive this and I… I can´t do it, I just can´t." he said in defeat.

I couldn´t bear to see him like this, if there was anything that I despised the most was seeing my family hurt.

"Edward, I know but this is her body and I can´t force her to do anything. I wish I could help you more, it pains me to see you like this and if I could I would try to convince Bella how severe the situation is

I would but I don´t think she will."

"Then why don´t you try, she won´t listen to me" _Do you think she will listen to me? _I asked him. His face hardened "Just do something". He wasn´t thinking straight, overcome with emotion.

"I am not" he answered my thoughts angrily. "Edward you need to calm down, why don´t we talk about it later when you have calmed down." I suggested but I knew immediately that it was the wrong thing to say.

"You won´t do anything then? I thought I could trust you." He whispered. I stepped closer but he moved away "Edward, please" I begged him but he didn´t seem to listen. He walked back and forth "I thought that we had an understanding; you promised me.""_I´m sorry son, but I won´t change my mind_". He stopped abruptly and glared at me "You have failed me Carlisle" he said darkly before he stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him leaving me nailed to the floor. It was as if he had slapped me across the face, his words echoed in my head. Those hurtful words stung as if he had ripped a part of me with him. Those words brought back memories I wished to forget, the same words my father had spoken to me all those years ago.

"Carlisle, you have failed me" my father´s belligerent voice echoed through the stone walls of the little church. His face was stone hard his black eyes accusing. "But father they may be innocent, how can one judge them so easily?" my former self asked him back. I had been twenty years old and my father had assigned me to lead the hunting party, in search for beings that were impossible to kill. That was the view I had at the time, my father saw sin everywhere he looked.

My father´s face turned red "Carlisle, there are sinners everywhere. Those are not people, their soles can´t be saved." He cried out. "But every life is precious, we must be cautious." I argued back. My father´s face turned from red to purple "Precious? Carlisle we live in times of sin we must rid the world of that filth. Do you want to end in the eternal flames of hell?" he cried out. I looked down, at that time hell was the thing people feared the most. The church had provoked fear amongst people for centuries, if you didn´t serve God you would end in hell, that was the course of the world. In fear of my father´s words I had followed his orders and searched for the monsters he had searched for his entire life.

My memories of my father were all in haze lurking in the deepest corner of my memory. The memories that I had showed me a bitter man who was blinded by his believes. I had never been good enough for him, no matter how hard I tried to please him my efforts were never good enough.

The shadow of the words my father had uttered in that church had followed me until this day.

Although my father´s words had wounded me deeply it was nothing compared to the pain I felt when Edward said them. I had always been afraid that I had changed Edward too young, so I had tried to guide him in every way but now it seems that I had failed miserably.

I took a shaky breath and sat down and buried my head in my hands. How many mistakes could I make? I had failed my son, disrespected my daughter in-law´s wishes and driven my daughter even further away. Mistake after mistake and here I was even more at loss than before. Had I done something? Was God punishing me for something? Maybe I wasn't meant to be happy. Maybe I wasn´t meant to have a family. As I thought of this I realized that maybe my father was right after all, maybe I was a complete failure.

A dry sob filled the air and it took me a minute to realize that the sound came from me. I tried to stifle it by putting my fist in my mouth. There I sat overcome with the tension my shoulders shaking with silent sobbing.

Outside the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the rain began to pour, a lightning struck the sky as a fallen leader sat by his office desk crying for his loved ones.

* * *

I know that this is a very heavy chapter and that Carlisle has very dark thoughts in it but I think that with his past that he must have doubts of himself. I hope you like it.

Please review.


	3. Hope after all

Disclaimer: Yet again, I own nothing. Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Enjoy!

* * *

Hope after all

The rain pounded heavily on the roof as lighting struck the clouded sky. It seemed like it had been raining for days, week's even months although I knew it had only been few hours. I hadn´t moved from my position, I didn´t want my family to see me like this; to see the man that I was afraid that I had become. A low knock on the door knocked me out of my miserable thoughts "Come in" I muttered. The door opened and closed softly. A familiar scent reached my senses. I had fallen in love with that scent. It had a trace of lavender and vanilla and something that was so sweet that no scent in the world could compare to it. Her light footsteps barely graced the hardwood floor as she drew nearer. She stopped by my side and kneeled down; her small hands stroked my shoulders carefully as if I would break. I relaxed under her touch and lifted my head up from my hands and looked at my wife´s beautiful face. Her expression was wary although I could trace worry in the depths of her golden eyes but there was also something in her expression that struck me, it seemed like she was hiding something from me.

I reached for her hand but she stood up and turned her back to me. I stood up carefully, after nearly a century of marriage there were few things we could keep away from each other.

I stood up and walked up to her "Esme love, what´s the matter?" I asked her carefully. She breathed deeply and turned around "What´s the matter? I can´t believe you even have to ask." She whispered as she turned around and glared at me angrily. At that moment something clicked in me, a realization.

What had I done? In all of the chaos around Edward and Bella´s homecoming I had forgotten my own wife. It hadn´t even occurred to me the pain she must be in when I knew better. I should have known that the news of Bella´s pregnancy would cause Esme pain. "Esme I´m so sorry, I didn´t think. God I´m so sorry." I whispered as I stepped closer but she took a step back. She lifted her hand in my direction and I stopped in my tracks dumbfounded. "Stop, let me speak" her voice frightened me; instead of the heartwarming, sweet voice I was used to. It was distant and cold as ice. "Esme, love…." I began but she cut me off "No I don´t want to hear it." I stopped and allowed her to continue. She took a deep, shaky breath "Today I found out that _my_ son was going to have a baby then I find out few hours later that he and my husband are going to murder that child." She breathed heavily as if she was trying to control herself.

"My husband, who is so sweet and caring and loving, was going to murder an innocent child." Her voice broke at the last word. "Esme, sweetie we don´t know if it is a child" I began numbly.

"Stop, stop with the excuses. I know full well what it may be but think of the possibilities what if it is a child? A sweet, innocent child who needs to be loved and taken care of, could you kill it?" Her voice became urgent. I should have known that she would react that way. She bore wounds that would never heal; the wound of losing a child. Now that Bella was pregnant the old wounds opened up, as she craved for her lost child she could not bear to see Bella lose hers. The problem was that I wasn´t so sure that it was a baby she was carrying. Esme and Rosalie couldn´t understand the danger she was in, they couldn´t grasp the fact that the fetus might be something so frightening that I couldn´t bear to even think about it.

"Esme, please you must understand the risk. I know it hurts you but we have to think about Bella."

Her eyes hardened "You don´t think that I´m thinking about Bella?"

I bit my tongue, she had misunderstood me entirely. "No that´s not it, I do know how much you care about Bella but you need to understand what is at stake." I said carefully.

"I know full well what is at stake but I also know how it is to be a mother and I would do anything to save my child." She said harshly, her expression full of pain. "I know that and that is why I´m afraid for Bella because I know that she will do anything to save that child so she won´t think about her own safety." Esme opened her mouth to answer but I continued "You don´t know how much I hope that you are right, that it is indeed a child that Bella is carrying but there is evidence that it is not so." I tried to reason, make her understand. Her brow furrowed and I knew that she still stood firm on her believes.

"What do you mean Carlisle? What kind of evidence?"

I sighed "First of all there are myths and legends of human women who have carried a child, a vampire child but none of them survived as far as I know. Secondly there are signs that the fetus is growing more rapidly than a normal baby which means that it´s probable that it´s not a normal child. Bella´s body is too fragile to carry it for the whole pregnancy." I paused when I saw the puzzled expression on Esme´s face "What I´m trying to say is that Bella won´t be able to survive… she will die." I finished slowly.

She stared at me wide eyed "But there must be some kind of way…" she paused in shocked; she loved Bella as if she was her own. She stood there completely shaken for a few moments then her face brightened "What if she is changed right after she gives birth, then they will both survive."

I wished that her idea was right but then again the same idea had come to my mind earlier but that was before I saw Bella. "Esme you must understand that Bella´s body is too weak to carry the fetus and the worst thing is that it´s taking all her substance. If we don´t find a way she will die before she´ll be able to give birth." The hope that had lightened in her eyes dimmed. "But, can´t you do something? Can´t you find a way for her to survive this?" I nodded my head slowly "That´s what I´ve been trying to do but I need more time and I´m afraid that we don´t have enough time."

Esme looked confused at me "But… I thought that you were going to remove the child. I thought that you were going to kill it?" she whispered.

"Yes I was at first but then I didn´t know that Bella was so opposed to the idea. I would never be able to do it without her approval."

"But earlier you said…" she stuttered. "I said that there was a great risk and that I´m not ready to let her get killed by something that isn´t worth it." I explained to her.

"Not worth it? Carlisle you don´t know what it is." She whispered solemnly.

"No, I don´t but you don´t either. You haven´t seen what I have seen, I saw newborn vampire children when I stayed with the Volturi. Believe me when I say it, it´s not worth it." I wanted her to understand my view but she wouldn´t budge. She sighed and moved closer to me staring me straight in the eyes "Carlisle, could you believe that _our_ Edward could conceive a monster" she looked at me meaningfully. I wanted to say no but my mind told me otherwise. We were vampires, although we weren´t monsters in that sense we had animalistic actions. She looked at me disappointingly when I didn´t answer. I sighed "Esme, I don´t know what to do. Everything seems so hopeless" I said bitterly.

"Since when haven´t you been a believer?" she looked taken aback. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair; my family put too much faith in my belief. "It´s not that I don´t believe, I just don´t know what to do and I´m afraid." I chocked on the last word. I was failing my entire family.

Esme looked at me sincerely, stepping closer to me the anger had disappeared and worry replaced it.

"I wish I knew how to help her, the uncertainty is killing me. Edward begged me to help him and I don´t even know how. I hate _not_ knowing, I hate to fail my son." I admitted to her my voice showing more bitterness than I intended. I had lived through times where death was lurking in every corner where you had to guess what treatment you had to use. At that time people worked fast and blindly without knowing which direction to take. It felt like I was reliving those times, the doubts and uncertainty coming back. It was like staying blindfolded in and endless pit of darkness searching for the light, knowing that it was a hopeless search.

Esme brushed her fingers against my forehead and moved them slowly down my cheek until they touched my lips. I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the comforting touch. "I´m sorry, I…I didn´t know how much this is hurting you. I also wish that we could find a way to save Bella but only time will tell what will happen. We´ll just have to be patient and support her through this." She whispered soothingly. I knew that she had good intensions but she couldn´t grasp the fact that time was so little, every minute was precious. I opened my eyes and met Esme´s golden ones, I shook my head slightly "I´m afraid that time is against us." She nodded her head slowly while she took my hand into her small ones, squeezing it in reassurance. We stayed silent for a while, seeking comfort in each other.

"I heard what Edward said to you" she said sadly, putting an end to the silence. I nodded my head stiffly.

"You know he didn´t mean it, he´s just scared for Bella and he expressed his anger on you." Of course I knew it but that didn´t take the fact that he had said those words, knowing full well what they meant, what feelings they would provoke. She squeezed my hand reassuringly "He needs you Carlisle. We all need you" she looked at me meaningfully. "I know. I just wish that I had the same faith in myself that you have."

"I know you Carlisle. You will find a way, you always do" she said these words with such hope and devotion that it made my long dead heart swell. I smiled at her warily "You have too much faith in me, you always have." She smiled at me coyly "You´re unbelievable" she rolled her eyes. "What?" I asked her smirking. She grinned at me "You´re such a flirt, you know that?"

"Who? Me?" I asked her innocently, I didn´t understand how she could possibly see flirting out of this conversation.

"Yes you, Dr. Cullen" she giggled. Then her face turned serious again "I know this is hard for you, but you must realize that you can´t give up, because if you will then there is no hope for the rest of us."

I smiled sadly at her "Then I´ll promise you that I will find a way, no matter what." I said reassuringly.

"How?" she looked at me soulfully.

I placed my chin on top of her hair "We must hope, if it´s only a fool´s hope" I whispered. She looked up at me hopefully. There would be a way, there _had_ to be a way. "I love you" she whispered against my neck. I smiled at her "I love you too" I said while leaning down to capture her lips with my own. The kiss was short but it held everything that we couldn´t express in words. It held a reassurance that everything would be all right, we would survive. Esme had given me the faith I had lacked for the past couple of days. We broke apart slowly, her lips curled up into a smile. "What are you smiling at Mrs. Cullen?" I whispered into her ear, deepening my voice. Her smile widened "Oh just thinking about how much I love my husband and how lucky I am to have him" I raised my eyebrows "Well, he sounds like a lucky man, I don´t think he deserves a wife like you." She sighed "Don´t be so hard on yourself Carlisle." Her brows creased as she looked at me "I´m sorry about earlier, I should have known that you wouldn´t do anything against Bella´s wishes. I was just so afraid and I didn´t think, can you forgive me?" She bit her lip, which she did when she was nervous. When she did that she reminded me of the sixteen year old girl I treated all those years ago. I brought her closer to me and kissed her hair "Of course, there is nothing to forgive. If there is anyone that should beg for forgiveness then it´s me, can you forgive me?"

"Of course" she sighed then she added "We both made a mistake, we all did and now we must stand together." She was right, she usually was when it came to our family but I wasn´t sure that the other members would agree. But that´s what I was here for, I knew they would listen to me although none of them would admit it in a thousand years. We stayed interlocked for few peaceful moments until she broke away. "I think I heard Bella downstairs, I´m going to check on her." She gave me a chaste kiss before leaving the room. I was alone yet again, so I decided to continue my research. I sat down on my leather chair and searched through my notes which lay in a mess on my desk. As I was sorting through the papers an old book came in view. It seemed that Milton refused to leave me alone. Paradise lost lay open under a medical journal. I lifted it up carefully and was about to close it when my eyes lay on the familiar passage:

This having learnt, thou hast attained the sum  
Of Wisdom; hope no higher, though all the Stars  
Thou knew'st by name, and all th' ethereal Powers,  
All secrets of the deep, all Nature's works,  
Or works of God in Heav'n, Air, Earth, or Sea,  
And all riches of this World enjoy'dst,  
And all the rule, one Empire: only add  
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith,  
Add Virtue, Patience, Temperance, add Love,  
By name to come called Charity, the soul  
Of all the rest: then wilt though not be loth  
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess  
A paradise within thee, happier far.  
(XII.575–587)

I stared at the passage, was fate playing tricks with me or was I so overcome with emotion and desperation that everything reminded me of the dreadful situation my family was in. Don´t fool yourself Carlisle it will do you no good. I sighed and closed the book slowly.

I stood up and placed the weary book in its place and walked towards the window that had a view over the forest. The sky was brightening up as the sun woke up from its slumber and rose higher illuminating the sky with warm colors of red and orange. I marveled at the sight before me, the ancient text refused to leave my thoughts. Those words had always meant something for me but I had never grasped the true effect of it. While I was standing there the first rays of the sun captured the window and lightened up the room with brilliant light a new feeling rose in my heart, a realization of sorts. I had lived in the endless pit of darkness but now I could see it, a light. It was small but it was there nonetheless. A new hope that I had been searching for, it was small but it was there. If God was indeed merciful then he must have mercy for this family and I had to have the faith to believe in that. I would find a way for us, we just had to hope and pray to God that he would spare us. As I thought of this a small smile crept on my lips, there was hope after all, a ray of hope in the darkness.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I might continue if I get enough feedback. I had my doubts about how Esme reacted in this chapter but no matter how I changed it I came back to this version. I hope that she doesn´t sound too angry and to out of character but people do act differently under pressure and stress so I think it´s more realistic to have her react this way. The passage is from Paradise lost and this is just how I understood it. Of course I did it from Carlile´s thinking. If anyone disagrees with this view please comment on it. Thank you for reading and please review :)


	4. From now on

Disclaimer: Yet again I don´t own anything, everything belongs to Stephenie meyer.

Enjoy!

* * *

From now on

The last rays of sun disappeared beneath the horizon as the darkness took over making the sky seem like it was on fire. I had always been fascinated with this time of the hour; it showed Gods most brilliant artwork, when the sun faded beneath the horizon painting the sky with various different colors of yellow, orange and red. When I was younger my father used to tell me that the sky was Gods canvas and he would paint the sky with the most brilliant colors nature had to offer. I used to envision a white clothed man with a long white beard holding a pencil, painting the sky.

As I watched nature´s most brilliant painting unfold before my eyes I couldn´t help but feel the presence of God closer to me. I felt privilege to be able to see that vision every day for eternity.

Nature had always fascinated me; it seemed chaotic in an organized way. It was just one more proof that something superior existed in this world, something that had created it. Nature was god´s fingerprint, the proof of this world´s existence.

This was one of the few things I and Edward agreed on, it was remarkable how our views would clash at times but on this one thing we were both certain. I chuckled at the thought, ouonly to feel emptiness in the core of my heart. Edward hadn´t talked to me since he had said those hurtful things, the worst part was that he knew that I had already forgiven him. I had forgiven him the moment he said it yet he didn´t seem willing to speak with me. I had decided to leave him alone; I had known him for such a long time that I knew better than to provoke any more anger. But these last hours I began to wonder whether it was the right decision, I used to treat him like a grownup but I started to wonder how I could when he was acting like the teenager he really was. After all he was still in many ways still a seventeen year old who needed guidance, no matter how much he denied it he knew it was the truth.

I sighed trying to clear my mind. I felt like I was walking in endless circles through the endless conflicts of my family members. It had only been two days since my last conversation with Esme and it felt like eternity. The days had fallen into a routine which consisted of staying as neutral as possible, acting like nothing had occurred after Edward and Bella´s return. Jasper and Emmett glued themselves to the TV screen or the chess board. Although they would seem convincing to human eyes I saw their anxious glances towards Bella. I truly felt sorry for poor Emmett when his wife´s full attention was towards Bella. He was as confused as the rest of us when Rosalie decided to help Bella and he didn´t know where his place was in this case. He didn't want to provoke Rosalie´s anger and he didn´t want to side against Edward so he decided to lay low. Jasper couldn´t handle the conflicting emotions around him so he decided to hang out with Emmett who´s emotions were easily balanced.

As predicted, Rosalie didn´t budge from Bella´s side. She hissed if anyone dared to come too near Bella and glared furiously at Edward every now and then. Esme wasn´t able to hide her anxiety as well as the others, keeping herself occupied with cooking for Bella and cleaning the house. In between cooking five times more than she needed to and cleaning the house until you could see your reflection through every window she tried to find something to occupy herself with.

The only person who wasn´t trying to pretend everything was all right, was Edward, he lurked in the farthest corner of the room keeping his eyes fixed on Bella. He tried to keep his face neutral but it appeared cold and blank like he was an empty shell. However he couldn´t fool anyone, behind the cold exterior he was aching, burning, breaking inside. His eyes held so much pain that it was unbearable to watch. Worst of all he didn´t want to talk to anyone but Bella. It was just a matter of time that he would break down, every minute was a battle and my heart ached to see him like this.

If there was anyone who had the faintest feeling how Edward felt, was Alice. She had withdrawn herself completely from the conflicts. She disappeared for hours then came back home and hurried off to her room. I knew that she was having problems herself, it seemed that she couldn´t see past the fetus, making it impossible for her to see the outcome of this. This fact puzzled me greatly although it was yet another evidence that the fetus was not entirely human. It was hard to watch the light hearted Alice turn into a ghost of herself. I knew it hurt her to be so far from Bella who had become her best friend but she couldn´t stand being close to the fetus.

When night fell the tables turned. After Bella had fallen asleep everything changed. Instead of the sounds of videogames came silence. It was as if the darkness drowned all sound and my family lurked in the darkness of our home. Nighttime used to be the only time when we didn´t have to hide but it seemed that everything had changed. Now it seemed that every member of my family tried to hide, every day a masquerade of emotions and reality.

While my family was lurking in the darkness I took residence in my study trying to find something that might help us with the situation Bella was in. It seemed to be the only place I could escape the endless darkness surrounding us, that and the hospital. But even the hospital couldn´t hide me from the darkness. Every move I made seemed desperate, every night I went through my books and internet references only to end up empty handed. For the first time in century´s books failed me, I had exhausted the search system on my computer. Every lead towards the truth led me to nothing, but I didn´t give up because if I would it would be the beginning of the end. My family would lose all hope of saving Bella; I was the last straw that kept their hopes alive, that everything would turn out fine, that we could save Bella. However I knew that Bella needed a miracle to survive this but I wouldn´t give up, not until I knew for certain that we wouldn´t be able to do anything. In the meantime I would have to watch my family crumble to pieces and that was a problem I couldn't solve by myself. I wished that this would all disappear, that Bella would jump up and say that it was all just a joke and then we would all laugh and forget about it. I wished for so many things.

I wanted my family back. I wanted to hear the laughter of my children, I wanted to see my wife smile at some silly joke Emmett would say. I wanted to watch my daughter dance through the house singing to a song Edward had composed. I wanted to see my son by the piano, hammering on the soft keys a melody. I couldn´t stand the emptiness of the house. Instead of my children´s laughter there was endless silence. Instead of dancing across the living room Alice shut herself in her bedroom and Edward´s grand piano had collected dust.

I wanted to shout at the sky and cry out "Why us? What have we done to deserve this? I have prayed and begged yet you don´t listen to my prayers, what can I do?" But I knew that it wasn´t my place to question Him. Terrible things happened in the world whether I liked it or not and I just had to accept that fact. I couldn´t forget all the things I had received in life, I had a wonderful wife and six children who were better than I deserved. I had started to take it all for granted and I wondered how I could watch my family crumble to pieces. I had to do something, I couldn´t just sit idly by and do nothing.

I stood up from my office chair and walked out of my study. I decided to do something I should have done long time ago. I walked downstairs to the living room meeting the same scene I watched last night. Rosalie sat in the darkness watching over Bella, Esme sat in a chair beside her stroking Bella´s hair carefully. Esme was the only one allowed to touch Bella in the exception of me when I had to examine her. Jasper and Emmett sat by the living room table, playing a silent chess. Alice was nowhere to be seen and in the farthest corner of the room sat Edward still like a statue. His eyes were pitch black, dark purple circles formed under his eyes which happened every time our kind was thirsty. I walked straight towards him my intention clear. I stopped right in front of him and kneeled down beside him. He didn´t show any sign of movement. I took one of his arms kindly and lifted him up, he didn´t show any sign of protest as I led him towards the doorway. I led him to the forest searching for something appetizing enough. Five minutes later a deer lay by Edward´s feet but he didn´t show any intention of drinking. I walked patiently towards him and placed my hand on his shoulder "you need to drink son, you can´t be around Bella like this." I said kindly but firmly. I patted his back before he kneeled down and drunk from the dead animal. I turned around and let him drink in peace. I stood there in silence for a while.

"Why did you do this?" I heard him ask, I turned around. He had straightened up; the dead deer lay by his feet. He looked like a tortured angel, his eyes were no longer black but golden, his hair was disheveled and his clothes crumpled. I walked carefully towards him "Edward, you can´t go on like this. I can´t watch you break down like this. Think about Bella." I pleaded with him but my words seemed to make it worse. "Do you think that I´m not thinking about Bella?" he spat, his eyes flying daggers.

"That´s not what I meant, she is experiencing a hard time and she needs you by her side…"

"I am by her side, every single minute but I can´t get past her bodyguard, thanks to you." He replied angrily.

"You may be at her side physically but mentally you are distraught. I see you hover in the corner in misery and I can´t watch you do that to Bella, to yourself. I may not be your father but I care for you as such and I can´t let you do this." I said firmly, this had gone too far, he wasn´t thinking straight. Edward glared at me furiously. "I am not thinking straight?" he replied to my thoughts. "I am not the one who stabbed you in the back while your wife is on her deathbed."

"Edward, I am terribly sorry for that. You know I couldn't just force her into getting rid of the fetus. You know me better than that." I stepped closer to him but he backed away. "You weren´t thinking about Bella, you were thinking about yourself, so you couldn´t stain your hands with "innocent" blood."

"This is enough Edward." I caught him off; his eyes were delirious as he continued. "No, I can´t do this. She is dying, my Bella is dying because of my doing and when I am trying to make everything right you come in the way and stop it." His voice lowered as he fell on his knees his form trembling. I walked towards his form. "I didn´t mean to hurt you Edward, it was never my intention. I thought it was the right thing to do." I said quietly as I watched my son's shoulders shake. I wanted to embrace him and comfort him but I feared of his reaction. Edward didn´t say anything. The darkness hovered over us; the only light came from the full moon above the trees, a single star shone above it.

"I just thought that you understood me" Edward finally whispered. "When Esme lay broken in the morgue you barely thought of what she had been through, why she was there you just acted on the whim, because you loved her. You loved her so much that you couldn´t bear to leave her alone, yet you barely knew her. I don´t want Bella to risk her life for something that´s not worth it. I want her with me forever and I know that I´m being selfish but I can´t bear it. I lost her once and I won´t lose her again." He didn´t look at me when he said it, I guess that he was too ashamed of his emotions.

I thought of the fateful moment when I saw her in the morgue. Her once youthful, carefree features had disappeared and before me lay a broken woman. Her body was broken beyond repair; her beautiful face was covered in purple bruises and dry blood. Edward was right; I had acted on the whim although I didn´t realize it at the time I had feelings for her. If I hadn´t acted so carelessly I would be alone and Esme would be dead and from that retrospect I didn´t regret a thing. The reason Edward brought did not come unnoticed by me. "That was different, she had nothing to lose, it was death or this. Bella has something to lose, something she is willing to sacrifice herself for and she needs your support." Edward growled angrily. "You really don´t get it." He stood up and walked few yards.

"Edward" I begged but he turned around. "Just leave me be" he muttered. I marveled whether I should leave him there, he seemed so vulnerable that I barely had the heart in me to leave him all alone but I knew that he wanted to be alone so I decided to leave him with his thoughts.

I turned around and started to walk away when I heard Edward speak

"Have you ever thought about what would have happened if you had stayed in Ashland? If Esme had become pregnant with the thing you created would you be able to sit by and watch it murder her? Would you be able to live with yourself?"

I stopped in my tracks and looked at him. This was a question I had asked myself, it was one of the reason why I was so quick to help Edward. I had experienced a trace of the loss he experienced when he left Bella last year. I had been in Ashland for nearly ten years and I had planned to leave when I met a 16 year old girl who fell out of a tree. I admit that I fell for her immediately, the blush on her cheeks and the caramel shade of her curly hair. The laughter which made something stir in my long dead heart which I didn´t know existed. I was afraid of it, afraid that I might do something that I would regret so I fled to Chicago. When I left something happened that I didn´t know was possible, I felt ache in my heart, a dreadful thing that wouldn´t leave. Although I tried to distract myself with work my mind kept wandering to the young girl I had treated, no matter how hard I tried to get rid of her face in my mind I couldn´t. It was as if she had taken a bit of my heart and crushed it between her small hands.

I used to think of the alternative, what if I would have stayed in Ashland? Would we have fallen in love? What if she would have become pregnant? I had thought about it a lot lately, would I have reacted like Edward? Would I do everything to save her from death? Undoubtedly but then again I wouldn´t know whether it would be the death for her and the same could be said about Edward.

"You would have let her die?" Edward snarled, I turned around and looked at my son. "No, I wouldn´t have let her die. I would have respected her wishes because I couldn´t do it to her, I wouldn´t be able to take the one thing away which she wanted the most." Edward stared at me uncertainly.

"But then again I can´t say because in the end I don´t know how I would react. We always think that we know how we would react to certain things but when it comes to it we don´t have a clue."

I smiled reassuringly at him "I am not going to tell you how to act Edward; I trust that you will do the right thing but a small form of advice; be there for her. You can´t change the course of events, it´s not in our place to change the fate of the world. Try to make the best out of the situation by supporting her." Edward looked uncertainly at me, the anger had disappeared from his eyes and he seemed to be calmer. "I know this is difficult for you but don´t give up son, remember I am always there for you." I patted his back reassuringly and surprisingly he didn´t brush it away. Instead he looked down shamefully "I´m sorry Carlisle." He muttered. "There´s nothing to forgive Edward" I said reassuringly.

Edward sighed in frustration "why do you keep forgiving me? I keep thinking that I have drawn the last straw and here you stand as forgiving as ever. Why?" I could see the shame in his eyes and I knew like I had always known that he regretted his actions. "Because you are my son and I care about you. Your words did hurt me but you know that you always have my forgiveness." Edward sighed with irritation "but I´m not Carlisle. I´m not your son although I pretend to be, you don´t have any reasons to forgive me." He said anger now evident in his eyes. "No but I care for you as if you are and you are having a hard time." Edward shook his head in frustration. "I wanted to ask you for my forgiveness. I should have been by your side when I wasn´t" I said quietly. "I forgive you." He said quietly then adding "I´m sorry about what I said to you. That you had failed me because you haven´t."

The memory flooded to my mind before I could control it. "You have failed me Carlisle" I heard his voice whisper in my head.

Edward looked down shamefully "I am sorry Carlisle, I didn´t think and I was so angry that I just…I…I, I don´t know." He said shamefully running a hand through his hair. At times like these I was reminded yet again that Edward was still a teenager. I squeezed his shoulder in assurance "Edward, I know how you feel, don´t worry I forgive you." I patted him on the shoulder. "I think we should return home" I murmured and Edward nodded his head in agreement. We made our way slowly towards the path back to the house. We walked in silence as my mind began to wander towards the scene that would be waiting us at home. I glanced at my son and thought how our family had changed in the course of few days. "I hate it too" Edward´s voice dragged me out of my thoughts. "I hate how we have changed. I hate the fact that it is all because of me." I shook my head "It´s not because of you. This is just an unfortunate event we need to find a way out of." I said reassuringly.

Five minutes later we had reached the house; it seemed that no one was home as we opened the front door. As I had predicted nothing had changed in the house, Bella was fast asleep and Emmett and Jasper sat at the same game of chess staring numbly at the walls.

I began to wonder if anything would change in the nearest future, as I walked towards my office I met Edward´s eyes for a brief minute. His eyes showed understanding and warmth I hadn´t seen for such a long time and I realized that at least one thing had changed. I gave him a brief smile before I retreated towards my office yet again. I shut the office door carefully behind myself. I stood behind my office chair sighing as I rubbed my hands over my temple. My eyes took in the mess on my office desk, several books were piled up in the corner and dozens of papers lay scattered across the desk. I started to organize the ocean of papers on my desk when my eyes stumbled across a photo frame under the pile. I took it up and realized it was one of the pictures from the wedding. To anyone it would look like the regular family photo but to me it was so much more. In the middle of the picture stood Edward and Bella, their faces were content and happy. It seemed like such a long time ago since I saw my son like this. I couldn´t help but wonder whether I would ever get to see that look on his face, the utter happiness he had never experienced before he met Bella. Would I ever get to see my son happy again?

My eyes took in the rest of the family and I realized that it was the first time my family felt complete. Every single soul had found their mate and for the first time everyone on the picture was smiling.

I wished for that same family on the picture yet I knew that we would never be the same, whether it was for the good or the bad.

As I placed the picture beside the wedding picture of me and Esme I realized that this would not make the end of the family. After all this time together I was determined to keep us together.

For the first time in weeks I sat down and prayed. I prayed for my family, for Bella´s safety. I prayed for a miracle, a miracle that would save us from this all. I hoped that my cries of help could be heard by God and that he would send a guardian angel to our aid.

In the distance a wolf howled as the sun rose above the darkness for a new day.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading. This chapter was very hard for me because I felt like the story is rather slow at this point. Stephenie left a gap in Breaking Dawn between Bella´s POV and Jacob´s. I wanted to show how hard this is for the entire family, I felt like Stephenie left out most of the Cullen´s in Breaking Dawn so I wanted to show how desperate their situation is. I know this is all very angsty but I had to make Edward and Carlisle talk before Jacob came into the story.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story, it really makes my day. Please review :)


	5. Revelations

Disclaimer: I don´t own anything, everything belongs to its respectable owners.

Enjoy!

* * *

Revelations

God created the world in six days; the seventh day was for resting. This day marked the seventh day since Edward and Bella arrived. Seven days of agony and despair. How I wanted to close my eyes and forget, just for a moment the terror which was invading my home.

Sometimes I did envy humans, the ability to sleep seemed unnecessary at times but now it seemed so inviting, so calming. It was not the sleeping part, per se, I didn´t need any rest at all but the thought of forgetting the situation for just a moment. To forget that the world was crumbling around us, to forget the dreadful truth that was becoming clearer by each minute. The truth everyone knew but didn't dare to speak of, the fact that Bella wouldn´t live through this. Her state was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. The fetus had grown and her body wasn´t bearing what she was carrying inside her.

I had hoped for a miracle but none would come yet I felt like there would be change to come. It turned out that my feeling was right, but in an unexpected way.

I had just finished examining Bella; her condition was worsening with each day. I had just put down my medical journal when I heard hurried footsteps outside my door. By the sound of it I would be expecting Alice´s and Edward´s company. Just as I was about to invite them in the door burst open and Edward and Alice rushed inside. Their faces were grim as they walked up to me. "Carlisle it´s bad… I can´t believe how stupid we were, we should never have called Charlie." She said in a hurried voice, her tone piercing. "Alice you need to calm down." Edward said his voice a little bit calmer. "Edward what is it?" I asked him. "Jacob Black is coming. I could hear his thoughts; he is coming near our house." I glanced at my son and daughter who´s faces were utterly bewildered.

"We have to keep our calm." I said soothingly trying to organize my own thoughts. This had taken me off guard. Jacob and the rest of his pack had not escaped my mind entirely. I knew it would be a matter of days until they would find out the truth, but the question was how much did they know?

I looked at Edward who shook his head warily "he thinks I changed Bella. The thing is that Charlie talked to Billy about our phone call a few days ago and the pack found out. The problem is that they jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"Which is perfectly understandable" I added. Edward nodded his head "yes, but you remember the treaty. They intend to kill us if we bite a human and now they think we did." I knew the risk, I knew that the rest of the family would want to fight the wolves if they would attack but I feared the results. Not only wouldn´t we all survive but some of the pack wouldn´t either. I dreaded an upcoming battle; after all they were just children. "Edward didn't you say that he was alone" Alice said suddenly. "Yes, and he has revenge on his mind. He wants to fight me alone." Alice raised her eyebrows "But he´s alone, then there is nothing to worry about. We can handle him easily." She said confidently. "Alice, I don´t want any violence. Jacob is reasonable enough, if we just talk to him instead of using violence."

They glanced at each other "umm Carlisle, I don´t think it´s time to be reasonable right now. We need to be ready if they attack us." Alice said. I sighed, if there was something my children did not understand was the virtue of patience. They jumped too quickly to accusations, always ready for a fight if needed.

"Alice, he won´t listen." Edward said matter of factly. Alice stomped her feet to the floor in exasperation. "We don´t have time for this" she muttered before storming towards the door with Edward behind her. I followed them to the living room where the rest of the family were minding their own business. Alice stormed downstairs and stopped in front of the couch were Bella lay in. The family gathered around. "Everyone, we have a problem. Jacob is on his way right now and we need to prepare ourselves." Just when she had finished the last sentence everything went into a total chaos. Jasper rushed towards Alice and Emmett yelled out a battle cry, at least there was one person who was pleased with the news. Esme placed her hand to her chest crying out in shock. Rosalie hovered even more protectively than before. The only person who wasn´t worried was Bella, her face lit up when Alice mentioned Jacob´s name. "Jacob is coming" she breathed out.

Looking at the scene before me I thought about the start of this all. It had started four days ago, It had been three days since Bella and Edward had come back. Bella lay on the sofa her head placed on Edward´s chest. They had been silent for several moments when Bella lifted her head up.

"Edward, I want to talk to Charlie" she said in a low, fragile voice. Edward stared at her momentarily and I knew without his ability´s what he was thinking. Bella had approximately couple of weeks, even less, and there was a great chance that she wouldn´t survive, could he take that wish from her?

Edward gave me a quick glance for my approval. Could I risk my family´s safety with this one phone call? What would it mean if I would grant them this? Then again did I have any other choice? Was it really up to me to question things anymore? I glanced at Edward and nodded my head briefly.

"All right Bella, but it has to be brief, OK?" Bella nodded her head. Edward popped his phone open and handed it to Bella. Rosalie hovered close by with a sour expression on her face, she hated it when she didn´t get her way. I knew that she did worry greatly of this family´s safety and I couldn´t help but feel the same worry. I took my place beside Edward waiting. The rest of the family stood frozen by the staircase as the shrill ringing sound came from Edward´s cell phone. After three rings a gruff voice answered on the other line "hello?"

"Dad" Bella said quietly, her voice was a little bit hoarse. The other end was silent for a few moments; I could hear a short intake of breath. "Bella?" Charlie finally said, his voice sounded relieved.

"Why haven´t you called Bells? I´ve been worried sick of you….I tried to call but you didn´t answer your phone." Charlie said gravely.

A small tear made its way down Bella´s cheek. "I´m so sorry that I worried you dad, but I…" Bella paused in mid sentence "I…" she muttered again then stopped. She looked up at Edward, the tears ran now freely down her cheeks. Edward took her hand in his and squeezed it gently in encouragement. He placed his hand on her cheek and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Do it for Charlie, for his safety." He whispered gently.

"Bella, are you there?" Charlie´s anxious voice came from Bella´s phone. "Yes, I´m sorry dad, but I´ve been very sick since I came from the honeymoon."

"Sick! Is it bad? Do you want me to come? Where are you?" Bella looked at Edward for help but her looked at me. I took the phone gently from Bella´s hand and placed it by my ear. "Hello Charlie, this is Carlisle. I´m sorry about all of this but Bella has been very ill." I said politely. "Carlisle, how sick is she? Is it bad?"

"She caught a rare disease in South America. She´s in good hands Charlie you don´t have to worry about her." I glanced at Bella who had her face buried in Edward´s chest; her fragile hands were cradled protectively around her stomach.

"Humph" Charlie grumbled. It would be hard to convince Charlie to stay away from Bella. Edward nodded to me knowingly. Just as I was about to speak, Charlie´s gruff voice came from the phone.

"Where are you? I will try to get a flight as soon as possible." I sighed inwardly, how could I tell him that he could under no possible circumstances meet his daughter? The worst part was that I knew how it would feel like. The helplessness and the fact that there was nothing you could do to save your child. I knew the feeling all too well and I hated that I would have to be the one to bring him the news. I chose my words carefully before I answered him.

"It´s not necessary, we are here in Forks. I thought it was best to treat her at home." I paused before continuing. "Charlie you must understand that her state is quite severe, I think it´s best that no one visited, for now."

"Are you saying that I´m not allowed to see my own daughter? Don´t I have any right anymore?" he said surly. "Charlie, she is very sick. No one is allowed to be around her. I will call as soon as you can see her but in the meantime it would be best to let her be." I said patiently.

"Is Edward with her?" He said suspiciously.

"No. Like I said, no one is allowed to be around her. I am very sorry Charlie but this is how it is." There was a pause on the other line. I knew that Charlie wasn´t about to give up, I could almost hear the wheels turn in his head, trying to find a way to see his daughter.

"But I don´t have to see her. I could come and talk to her through the door, then at least she could hear me and know that I´m there." A small hope woke in his voice.

"I´m sorry Charlie, no visitors. I will call as soon as we get some news." I said firmly,

"But Dr. Cullen I could…."

"I´m sorry, Goodbye." I hung up before he replied. I hated to be so cold but it was for his best, I hoped.

Bella´s mood became even more depressed after the phone call and I started to think that maybe I was right in the beginning; maybe this was not such a good idea.

"Carlisle? Carlisle aren´t you listening to me? We need to get ready, Jacob is by the driveway." Alice´s high voice shook me from my thoughts. I shook my head "Everyone just calm down." I said firmly, everyone stopped in their tracks. "What are you talking about Carlisle? If you're worried about violence you needn´t worry we can take them down easily." Emmett said confidently. "No, you must stop with this at once. We really don´t know the reason why Jacob is coming."

"What are you talking about? Of course we know, Edward said that he´s going to kill us because he thinks that he changed Bella." Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Then why is he coming alone? Wouldn´t he have brought the pack if he was going to kill us all?" There was a pause then Jasper looked up. "Humm, this is odd." He said while staring outside the window. "What?" Alice said, worry edged in her voice. Jasper didn´t answer but looked thoughtfully towards Edward who had the same expression on his face. "Your right Jasper, I think it would be best."

"What is it?" Alice said while staring at her husband. Neither of them answered the question. "Common Jasper we don´t have forever. Well, not in this case. Please tell us, Jacob is walking up the stairs." She said desperately. Just then Edward glanced towards me nodding his head once before lowering his head. I understood the signal and went towards the door. I could smell his scent by the door. It was interesting how the scents of werewolves were so displeasing to Vampires just as the werewolves disliked the scent of vampires. I opened the door before the knock came. There in front of me stood Jacob Black. His appearance was disheveled, his clothes were ragged and his shoes appeared to be taped together with duck tape. His fist was in mid air as if he was about to knock. He seemed a little taken aback and I knew that he had expected Edward to meet him, ready for a fight. "Hello Jacob. How are you?" I said calmly. He seemed even more puzzled with my greeting but recovered fast. "I heard Bella made it back alive." He said drily. How does one tell a werewolf to postpone a fight with ones vampire son? I wondered.

"Er, Jacob, it´s not really the best time." I said, keeping my voice calm.

"Could we do this later?" Jacob looked surprised by my request. I was grateful that he didn´t show any attempt to attack. I could sense Emmett and Jasper nearby, ready for the blow.

"Come in, please Jacob." Bella´s voice came from the living room. I felt my instincts get a hold on me; I narrowed my eyes towards Jacob, wondering what he would do. To my pleasant surprise he didn´t show any intent of shifting. Instead he looked puzzled he narrowed his eyes slightly then he took a step and walked past me muttering "excuse me" before darting off. I was surprised by this but didn´t let it show and closed the door silently. Emmett and Jasper stared at me, I knew what they were thinking but I trusted Jacob. Well, I trusted his love for Bella. I knew that he would never attack _her._

Jacob walked slowly towards Bella; it would be matter of seconds before he would see the problem.

Edward and Rosalie stood by the sofa. Rosalie had a grim expression on her face, not even bothering to hide her disdain. Bella didn´t show any signs of worry, her expression was calm and reassuring. Then her expression shifted. I knew what would happen, as I was about to help her I saw Rosalie bend over her with a basin in one hand. Just as she snatched it under her chin Bella threw up. I knew that there was very little that she could throw up except liquid. I had been trying to let her drink water so she wouldn´t dehydrate but she couldn´t hold anything down. So, much to her dismay, I put up an IV.

When she had finished she looked at Jacob, her face apologetic. "Sorry about that." Edward moaned slightly beside her. He was blaming himself, I could see it. I gave him a reassuring look. Esme had appeared beside me, her face showing sympathy towards them. I took her hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

I looked at Jacob to see how he was handling this; His facial expression was a mix of horror and worry.

He walked slowly towards them as if his mind was elsewhere; his eyes were fixed on Bella. Just when he was near the couch, Rosalie hissed and rushed in front of the couch. Jacob seemed slightly taken aback but recovered himself quickly.

"Rose don´t," Bella pleaded "It´s fine." She said it in a shaky voice. Jasper and Emmett took small steps forward, ready to attack. Emmett´s fist were balled up and Jasper stared grimly at Jacob.

I could feel Esme´s nails digging in mine. "We have to do something." She whispered urgently, staring anxiously after Emmett and Jasper. "Wait, everything will be fine." I whispered back. She stared wide eyed at me as if I had completely lost it. "But, Carlisle, what if they will hurt themselves? I can´t bear it."

I was about to answer when I saw Rosalie move from her spot. I couldn´t believe my eyes. Never in a million years would Rosalie back down from a werewolf, or so I thought.

"Bella, what´s wrong?" Jacob whispered. He hadn´t moved from his spot, instead I could see his knees buckle and he dropped to the floor. I glanced worriedly at Edward but he didn´t show any expression. He was completely blank.

Jacob reached for Bella´s hand and grasped them between his. "Are you all right?"

Bella seemed uncertain how to answer the question so she muttered instead. "I´m so glad you came to see me today, Jacob." Her voice was thick with emotion. Edward moaned in desperation, Bella stroked his cheek in comfort. Jacob looked confused between them. I saw that he was trying to figure this puzzle out. He snatched his fingers away from Bella and stood up "what is it Bella?" he insisted. Bella glanced at Edward. When she didn´t get anything from him she drifted her eyes towards the living room where we stood. She seemed to be looking for any disapproval, when she didn´t see any she turned to Rosalie.

"Help me up, Rose?" Rosalie didn´t look at her, instead her eyes were fixed on Jacob who stood utterly confused by her plea. Rosalie didn´t show any sign of moving. Esme whimpered beside me, her face horror struck. I knew what she was thinking. How would Jacob react?

"Please, rose" Bella begged. Rosalie made a face then she leaned over her and put her arms behind Bella´s shoulders, heaving her up.

"No" Jacob said numbly. "Don´t get up…"

The sweat started to form on Bella´s brow by the pain and effort. "I´m answering your question" she snapped at Jacob. Finally Rosalie managed to pull Bella off the couch carefully. The blanket fell off her and pooled by her feet. Edward looked like he was about to snap, he buried his head in the cushions of the couch in desperation.

Meanwhile there was a total silence in the room. Jacob´s expression turned from confusion to horror. He didn´t show any sign of movement, his eyes drafted from Bella´s face towards Edward´s who´s head was still buried between the cushions. It was a horrible sight, Esme appeared to be as torn as I was. Should we dare to interfere? Or should we leave them be? Esme seemed to have made up her mind and made a slow step towards them but I was quicker and pulled her towards me. "No, let them be." I whispered so only she could hear. She looked up at me then nodded her head and stayed put. Emmett and Jasper seemed to have the same problem, their eyes drifted towards us then back at the scene before them.

Suddenly Edward sprung to his feet "Outside, Jacob" he snarled. "Let´s do this" Jacob snarled back. Emmett and Jasper couldn´t hold back any more and rushed beside Edward. Esme cried out in horror at the sight of her sons. "No" I heard someone whisper. I looked back and saw Alice standing few feet from Esme but it didn´t come from her. Bella stood on her shaky legs between Jacob and Edward. Her hand clutched Edward´s arm. "I just need to talk to him, Bella." Edward said calmly. I didn´t know whether it was the truth or not, I knew that Edward could react too rashly and Jacob was too young to know better.

But that was not my only worry. The movement had been too much for Bella, her face was ghostly white and the sweat was pearling off her brow. Edward seemed to notice it too. "Don´t strain yourself." He said soothingly. "Please rest. We´ll both be back in just a few minutes." She stared at him skeptically, then she nodded and Rosalie rushed beside her and helped her back on the soft cushions.

"Behave" she glared between both of them. "And then come back" she added. Jacob didn´t answer, instead he followed Edward who was walking towards the front door. _Don´t do anything rash Edward. _

I begged him, when he walked passed me. He gave me a short reassuring glance before darting outside.

There was complete silence in the house. Emmett stared longingly at the front door, waiting for a signal. Jasper kept his calm, showing no interest in a fight. Instead he glanced at the small figure in the furthest corner of the room. She hadn´t uttered a word since Jacob had appeared in the house. Jasper kept a guarded stare. I knew that he wanted nothing more than to keep her safe.

Rosalie sat beside Bella, stroking her long, dark hair. She had a grim expression on her face.

We stayed like this for the next fifteen minutes. Edward had taken him far enough so we couldn't hear them. That worried me a little. Either they were having a fight, or Edward was telling him something we weren´t supposed to hear.

Five minutes past, fifteen, twenty, and there was no sound. After twenty five minutes I heard them by the drive. The door opened slowly and Edward walked inside, Jacob stood in the doorway uncertain.

I let out a sigh of relief, at least they weren´t harmed. Then what were they doing? I glanced at Edward for an answer but he stared straight ahead. "We´re going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately" he announced. His voice was a little strained but he didn´t appear to show any sign of dissent. It appeared like this was not Jacob´s idea but his.

Rosalie hissed "over my pile of ashes." Edward didn´t show her any interest, instead he looked at Bella.

"Bella, Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?" Bella looked at Jacob, trying to find a meaning out of all this. Then she turned to Rosalie. "Rose, Jake´s not going to hurt us. Go with Edward."

"It might be a trick" Rosalie said warningly. Bella looked at Jacob again. "I don´t see how" She replied.

"Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie." Edward said. Rosalie glanced from Edward´s face and found mine. She glared at me accusingly. "We´re the ones she´s afraid of" The anger was starting to show in his voice. "No" Bella cried out. The tears started to stream down her cheeks "No, Edward. I´m not…" she said hysterically. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach. I hated to be the cause of this distress. Edward was right, although she denied it, Bella was afraid of us.

"I didn´t mean it that way, Bella. I´m fine. Don´t worry about me." Edward said soothingly.

Edward stood up and motioned his hand towards the door "Everyone, please."

I turned towards Esme and took her arm in mine before walking towards the door. I heard small footsteps behind me and noticed Alice skipping beside us. Jasper and Emmett followed shortly after with Rosalie and Edward in the back. We made our way to the backyard. There we could be in a close range if Bella needed our help and far enough for their privacy.

"What was this all about Edward?" Rosalie broke the silence. "They need to talk." Edward replied in an emotionless voice. "That doesn´t answer my question" Rosalie shot back. Edward glared at her but didn't answer. "Rosalie, this is enough. If Edward doesn't want to talk about it then we should respect that." I said sternly. Rosalie glared at me but kept silent. We spent the next minutes in silence.

Then I felt a soft tapping on my shoulder. I turned around and found Esme who bid me to follow her. We walked a few yard until she stopped. "Carlisle, I´m worried" she whispered. I cradled my arms around her waist. "I know. I am too but I don´t think that Jacob will do Bella any harm." I whispered in her hair.

"No, that´s not why I´m worried" she turned around at stared at me. "It´s Edward. He is crumbling down and I worry about what he will do."

"I know, I worry about him also. But what can we do?" Esme stared at me with her big, golden eyes.

"Well, I was thinking that you could speak with him." She said hopefully. I sighed.

"Darling, I have tried to speak with him and there is nothing that I say that will ease his pain."

"Yes, I know but there is something on his mind and I think that you can speak with him about it." She looked at me pleadingly.

"I don´t know." I said doubtfully. I knew what she was thinking but I didn´t want to bother Edward with it, not at this moment. Esme sighed "please, he won´t listen to me. I know he will listen to you."

"Esme, not now" I whispered. Her face slumped and she nodded her head slowly. "Fine, but promise me, Carlisle, that you will speak with him soon." She pleaded with me. I nodded my head. "I promise, but not now."

"Hey. Carlisle, Esme, Jacob left." Emmett cried out. I looked at Esme and took her hand in mine. "Let´s go." I whispered. We followed the children inside. When we came inside I was met with the sight of Bella in my son´s arms. He stroked her back calmly, his expression blank. "He´s not coming back" Bella choked out. Edward didn´t say anything, instead he hugged her closer to him.

Everyone decided to leave them alone, except Rosalie who lurked in the shadows in case Edward would do something.

I headed my way outside and stood on our porch staring at the route Jacob had just crossed.

I could still smell his scent. No matter what he had told Bella I was certain that this was not the last we would see of Jacob. He would return that I was certain of. Although he had left us worrying over a new threat I was sure that Jacob Black would be on our side. As I stared at the full moon I felt Esme´s presence beside me. She didn´t say anything. Instead she laid her head on my chest and stared at the sky above us. I snuggled her closer to me, seeking in the comfort of her embrace. In the comfort of her arms I thought about the days to come. Everything was about to change, and I prayed it was for the better. No matter what, there was one thing I was certain of and that was that no matter what we would have each other. That was certain.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hoped you enjoyed it. I must apologize for the lack of update. I have been very busy with mu study´s. This chapter is mostly about Jacob´s reaction about the pregnancy. I must admit that I have never written Jacob before but I hope that he is similar to the Jacob we have all learned to love. I want to thank every single person who has reviewed this story, you keep me going.

Please review :)


	6. Omen of a son s betrayal

Disclaimer: I don´t own anything. Everything belongs to its respectable owners

Enjoy and please review :)

* * *

**Omen of a son´s betrayal**

The wind swept through my hair as I ran through the thick forest. The muddy ground underneath my racing feat was damp, covered with brown leaves. The trees stood tall above, preparing for the winter that was fast approaching. The leaves were starting to lose the green color and yellow and red had started to dominate their color palette. The sky above was dark and gloomy; the thick clouds were grey and intimidating as they started to pour on the ground below.

I could hear Esme not far behind me. She didn't have the same enjoyment in running like the rest of us. She rather enjoyed slow walks which was laughable to Edward. I had always quite enjoyed it although not as much as Edward. I understood the appeal to it for him, running felt like freedom. Freedom from all the rules we had made for ourselves. I knew they hated our lifestyles sometimes. It was tiring to have to keep the same parade over and over again, it wasn´t in our nature to be like humans. It wasn´t normal, yet we all felt comfort in it and it was better than acting like the animal we really were. That´s why running felt so freeing, we didn´t have to pretend and this was the only way we could express our animalistic nature. Esme however had never had that savage side in her.

As I ran through the forest I thought about the event before. The situation was bad enough but to add the werewolves into the picture had made things, if possible, even worse. The worry started to build in my chest. Maybe this wasn´t a good idea, I should have stayed home. Things could turn terribly wrong. I slowed down my phase and looked behind me. Esme slowed her phase also. She looked in the same direction. I felt her place a hand on my arm. "Don´t worry, they will be fine. Alice would never have suggested that we should go if it wouldn´t be safe." She said reassuringly squeezing my arm.

I looked from the route we had just been running and looked at her dark eyes. "I´m not sure" I muttered skeptically. I knew that Alice had her heart in the right place and that she would never send us to go hunting if she wouldn´t be sure that it was safe. However there was a threat that even Alice couldn´t see. The werewolves were a problem. Although Emmett and Jasper were good fighters they would not be able to stand a chance against the werewolves alone. Lives could be lost, not only ours but also theirs. I did not want this to come into a fight since our relationship had become better after the fight against the newborns. It seemed that, that friendship was not meant to last long. It unnerved me to be away from the family. We weren´t far away but still I felt a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something would go wrong tonight. Esme tugged at my arm. "They´re fine Carlisle, we are not far away from home. They can take care of themselves." She muttered. I stole a glance in the other direction then looked down at Esme. She was thirsty I could see that clearly. Maybe it was safer for us to hunt, Esme was right, they would be fine.

I nodded my head with the same reluctance as before, and we darted off down the path. After five minutes I could smell a deer. I gave Esme a small nod. She smiled thankfully and with amazing speed she took the animal down and drank from its neck. She was unbelievably graceful when she did it. Although I disliked our hunting methods I had found Esme´s hunting methods quite fascinating. She tried to shield the animal from pain as best as she could.

After we had finished our meal, we made our way slowly through the forest. We walked in silence, enjoying each other´s company. It seemed like an eternity had passed since we had spent time together in silence. I felt myself relax in her presence, just watching her figure glide through the thick forest floor. And for the millionth time I thought about how lucky I was to have found her. Out of all the beating hearts in the universe, I was the one to claim hers. She had told me so many times how lucky she was that it was I who found her. That I was her savior; her knight in shining armor. But she was so wrong, she was my savior. She saved me from myself, in many ways. She shut down the endless loneliness.

She was like a soft breeze in the summer and a candlelight in the winter, lighting up the darkness in my heart.

I hadn´t noticed that I had slowed my pace down unconsciously as I admired her moving frame. Then she stopped and looked at me with a smirk on her lips.

"Do you see anything you like?" she asked playfully.

I straightened up and smiled back. "I don´t know. I think I saw a funny bird somewhere."

Her smirk fell, "a bird?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Yes indeed. A little bird that flew pass me. "I said pointing at the trees.

Her smirk returned. "Oh! I thought that you were admiring me. I didn´t know you held such fascination for birds, Dr. Cullen."

I walked up to her slowly, how I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss every inch of her but I restrained myself and continued the act.

"Yes, I think their quite enjoyable actually. They sing in the morning despite the fact that they have little, screechy voices. And that everyone dislikes it but tolerate it because they don´t want to hurt their feelings."

"What? You said that you like my singing." Esme swatted my arm playfully.

"I thought that we were talking about birds." I said seriously.

She huffed and walked away from me. In one sweep I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her towards me. She gave out a small cry.

"Where do you think you´re going, little bird." I whispered in her ear. She giggled softly and turned in my arms.

"I love you" she said before placing a kiss on the bridge on my nose. She let out a small, girlish laughter as she wiggled from my arms and ran at full speed away from me. I stood still for a second before racing after her. It didn´t take me a long time to reach her. I reached for her hand and managed to slow us down. I turned her around and placed my lips on hers. She responded eagerly to my lips and she placed her arms around my shoulders. We were in a complete bliss when I heard the shrill ringing of my cell phone.

I wanted to ignore it so badly but then I remembered the feeling I had before. I had told them that they shouldn´t call unless it was extremely important. Esme must have sensed how I felt; she broke our kiss and looked at me with worried eyes.

I reached for my phone and prayed to god that my family was all right before I answered the phone.

"Hey Carlisle" Emmett´s deep voice came from the other end of the line. Before I could answer, he continued.

"I´m sorry to interrupt you guys but there is a problem." My breath hissed, I glanced at Esme who placed her hand on my arm in assurance.

"What is it Emmett? Is Bella all right?"

"Yeah she´s fine, it´s not her. It´s the wolves." Emmett´s voice was serious. If he was worried then there must be something terribly wrong.

"Jacob and Seth just came by and told us that the pack is coming to attack. They found out about Bella and plan to take her down to."

If my heart would still be beating, I was sure that it would have stopped at that very moment.

I felt Esme´s nails dig in my shoulder as her eyebrows creased with worry.

"Is Jacob there? Emmett, tell me exactly what happened."

"Well, Jacob and Seth came to us to warn about the pack. They say that their on our side, Edward seems convinced. They said that they're going to attack tonight but he´s not sure since they´re now on our side. Seth went to look for any sign of them. I think you should come home as fast as you can."

I nodded my head to Esme and we started to run back to the road we came from.

"Emmett, we´ll be there in twenty minutes, tops. Be careful."

"We will."

We raced through the woods at top speed. I thought about every possibility. What if we were too late?

I looked at Esme and knew that she was thinking the same thing. I took her hand in mine and encouraged her to go faster.

The forest was completely dark now and I could feel raindrops fall on my skin. We had almost reached when I smelt something that made me stop dead in my tracks. Esme tensed up, she had smelt the same thing. This smell belonged to one creature alone - a werewolf.

I stepped in front of Esme, my instincts taking a hold on me. I could hear the creature now, coming closer and closer. Until I saw two yellow eyes between the trees, I went into a crouch.

The creature was dangerously close, I heard Esme whimper beside me. I could see the creature clearly now, its fur was light grey and its body was thin and small.

How could I attack such a young thing? He was probably just a young boy. Could I kill an innocent child?

Then the creature disappeared. The smell disappeared; instead I smelt a scent of a boy. I couldn´t believe it. The wolf had phased, knowing that we were ready to attack.

Suddenly a figure appeared through the trees. I let out a sigh of relief, it was Seth.

"Carlisle and Esme" he said brightly.

I couldn´t help but smile, it was remarkable how he could stand our family, considering the fact that he had been taught to be our enemy. Despite of his young age, he surely was a bright young boy. I had always found him very likeable.

"Seth, you gave us quite the turn."

"I´m sorry I scared you." He looked shamefully down.

"It´s all right. I don´t know how to thank you and Jacob for warning us. I don´t know how we would have coped without you. Tell Jacob that I am thankful for your help. I know how hard it must be for you to stand against your friends and family." And I truly meant it with all my heart. I had always found the bonds between the wolves quite fascinating (to Edward´s annoyance) mostly because their bond was something that ran deeper than any friendship or family. They were bound for their entire lives to save the tribe, to be their protector and that bond was impossible to break.

But Jacob had broken their bond. I knew that his love for Bella would help us someday, although I had hoped it wouldn´t have been in this situation.

Seth waved his hand carelessly. "Hey! We´re not going to let anything happen to Bella or your family."

"Thank you Seth."

He nodded his head. "I think I should go back. I nodded my head. Seth phased back and hurried through the trees.

We went in the other direction to the backdoor of the house. Most of the family was scattered over the living room, except for Rosalie who was undoubtedly keeping guard over Bella. Bella´s condition was worsening. She received no nutrition at all and the fetus was growing by the minute. I had decided to put up a accommodation in my office for Bella. There I could treat her properly and hopefully find a way to help her. Although she had protested when I had showed her the room I think that she was grateful.

I listened for any signal from her but by the sound of it, she was fast asleep. I knew that she was fine, for now. There was another person in the room that I had more worries of.

Rosalie had taken her role as Bella´s guardian more seriously than I had ever dreamed of. I was starting to worry about Bella´s safety for Rosalie hadn´t hunted for a week. But that was not the only problem. I worried about her motivations. I knew from the beginning that the only reason that she was doing this was because of the fetus, not Bella´s safety. I knew that she hoped deep down inside, that Bella wouldn´t survive this. I spoke to Emmett about this, begged him to speak with her. But he shook his head and said that this wasn´t in his hands, he wouldn´t be able to speak her off this one.

With every day I saw how deeper and deeper she was going. It had taken her decades to heal her wounds. Now she had opened them again, with each day she was reminded that she couldn´t have children and now she was hoping that Bella´s child was her only chance of becoming a mother.

I feared what this would do to her. I feared that she would do something rash to make her lifelong dream come true. I had hoped that Esme could talk some sense into her but to no avail.

I feared of what would happen if Bella and the fetus would not make it. I knew that Edward was a lost cause. Even though I would chain him to my wrist and keep guard on him for eternity, I knew that I would never do that to him. Not only did I fear for Edward but for Rosalie as well. I feared that she would leave the family for good. Emmett would follow her, no matter how much he would want to stay with us. What then? Would Alice bear the loss of losing her siblings and Bella?

Jasper would follow her to the end of the world. What about Esme? Would she bear to lose all of her children?

Esme´s sigh of relief brought me back from my depressive thoughts. She placed her hand to her heart.

"I´m so glad that you´re all right. We were so worried that we were too late."

Emmett snorted "what do you think we are? Don´t you think that we can handle those little puppies?"

"No, of course not dear, I just…" Esme muttered apologetically.

"Don´t apologize Esme. You had every right to be worried." Alice said, patting her on the shoulder.

"It´s not like we´re out of danger yet. The wolves are still out there, ready to attack and I think we should be prepared." Jasper stood tensely near the front door.

"Jacob and Seth are keeping guard" Edward muttered softly. He looked terrible, his eyes were dark. I worried that he was driving himself too far. He looked at me warily but didn´t say anything. It seemed like he was almost guilty, but what could he be guilty about?

I didn´t have the time to think of it further because I heard a howl outside. It sounded like Seth was giving us a signal. Then they had come after all.

Everyone tensed up, Jasper and Emmett took their positions by the front door.

Alice and Esme took their positions few feet behind them. Edward walked to the window, his shoulders tense. Then he seemed to relax.

"It was a false alarm." Edward said.

"Seth was upset about something else, and he forgot that we were listening for a signal. He´s very young." He appeared to be disinterested but there was something under the cold surface that was plaguing him.

"Nice to have toddlers guarding the front," Emmett grumbled and moved from his place.

"They´ve done us a great service tonight, Emmett. At great personal sacrifice," I reminded him. I had hoped that the rivalry between us and the wolves would end with the battle against Victoria and the newborns. But it seemed that nothing had changed, even though Jacob had showed great sacrifice when he decided to stand up against Sam and the pack. I had hoped that they would at least try to show some respect.

"Yeah, I know. I´m just jealous. Wish I was out there." Emmett grumbled and stared outside the window.

"Seth doesn´t think Sam will attack now, "Edward muttered. He hadn´t moved from the spot by the window. His eyes were dark and the moonlight illuminated his skin. He appeared like a ghost, a ghost of his former self.

"Not with us forewarned, and lacking two members of the pack" he continued. He avoided eye contact with me. I wondered about what he had said. Seth sounded sure but he was just a boy.

"What does Jacob think?" I asked him.

"He´s not optimistic." He looked up when he said that. For one second our eyes met and for that one moment I truly saw the broken man inside the solid cover Edward had built. I saw the same guilt I had witnessed before but it was much stronger now. Then he looked down. What was he hiding from me? He was guilty about something, that, I was sure of, of what I didn´t know.

I decided that this wasn´t the time to think of this. The threat of the wolves was a far bigger problem. Jasper stood tensely by the window, Alice sat beside him. They didn´t say a word, they just were there for each other and that was all that mattered. Emmett sat on the couch, staring at the TV, flipping through channels. I knew that he wasn´t really watching but I let him be. Esme stood by the steps looking at me worriedly. I hurried up to her.

"What´s wrong?" I asked her, taking her hands into my own.

"I´m just worried" she sighed.

"They will be all right. I doubt that the wolves will attack tonight. Don´t worry darling." I tried to give her some comfort. She looked at me almost sympathetically. She stroked my arm up and down.

"Oh, honey. I´m not talking about them." I looked at her confusedly. What was she talking about?

"Don´t get me wrong. Of course I´m worried but I agree with you. I don´t think that they will attack tonight." She said with the same sympathy as before.

"Then what are you talking about?" I asked her. She smiled at me and shook her head. Then she looked up and touched my cheek.

"I´m worried about you." She said and emphasized on the last word.

"Me?"

"Yes you. You worry so much on everyone else that you forget about yourself. Have you looked yourself in the mirror lately?" I shook my head. I knew that I hadn´t really been taking care of myself lately but how could I? With everything that had happened how could I think of myself? It was absurd.

She looked at me like she could read my thoughts.

"You silly man. I know that you are scared about our family. I am too but you don´t realize that this family doesn´t run without you, and if you´re straining yourself so much I fear that this family won't stand it. You´re not alone in this Carlisle, not one man can make things better. We´re in this together."

I nodded my head. I hadn´t thought about this, at all. Maybe I had been taking things onto my shoulders. But it was my responsibility. Esme must have known exactly what I was thinking by the expression on her face.

"Carlisle, please just take one thing at a time. I worry about them too. Why don´t you just concentrate on Bella for now? Emmett and Jasper can handle the wolves. I can try to speak some sense into Rosalie and you can look after Bella." She said reasonably. I thought about it and thought that it would be all right, although she was being rather optimistic about Rosalie. But there was one thing that she hadn´t mentioned- Edward. There was something going on with him and I had to know what.

"What about Edward?" Esme bit her lip when I mentioned him.

"He can take care of himself. For now," she tried to sound convincing but I knew that she was thinking the same thing. She had noticed.

"Why don´t you look at Bella?" Esme tried to switch the topic but her expression didn´t fool me. I knew that she had the same worry for Edward as I had. But I played along. I didn´t want to upset her so I kissed her on her forehead and headed upstairs, to my office.

When I opened the door the dame vision greeted me like earlier that day. Bella lay fast asleep with Rosalie by her side. I had connected Bella to monitors in the vain hope to follow her progress but it turned out that it had nothing to say. Her condition was above anything that medicine could help. The only thing that was keeping her sustained was the IV I had set up. The soft dripping of the Colloid fluid was the only sound in the room.

I closed the door behind me softly and walked in silence towards the bed. Rosalie sat still but I could see her eyes following my every move. Her mouth was set in a thin line. I tried to ignore her; if she wanted Bella alive then I was her only hope. I stretched my hand out to check her pulse when Rosalie snapped.

"Don't touch her! You´ll wake her up," Rosalie whispered harshly. I would be more worried that she would wake up by Rosalie´s noise. I could feel that my patience with Rosalie was running thin.

"Rosalie." I sighed.

"Don´t start with me, Carlisle. We let you have your way earlier, but that´s all we´re allowing."

I wanted to point out to her that if she wouldn´t have "allowed" me to have my way earlier, then Bella would have died. But I bit my tongue and decided that it didn´t matter for now. I didn´t want Bella to wake up because of us arguing. I put my hands up in the air in surrender and sat down on the chair beside the bed. Rosalie opened her mouth as if she was about to protest but closed her mouth.

Instead she turned her head in the other direction. She was putting up the same act she had done for years so I decided to ignore it. Sometimes it was just best to let her be.

We sat in the silence for few minutes until the door opened and Edward stepped in. I could see Rosalie´s knuckles whiten as she gripped the sides of her chair. Edward pretended like he didn´t see her and sat beside me.

He took Bella´s hand in his and stared at her face. It was remarkable how this girl had changed Edward. Never in a million years had I dreamed that he would fall for a girl like Bella. Bella was a special girl, different from others in so many ways. At that moment when I looked at them I knew that there was some hope. Bella would fight with all her might to stay with Edward; I hoped that it would be good enough.

Rosalie sat still, looking between me and Edward in disdain. I sighed and stood up, I wasn´t in the mood to deal with Rosalie right now. She was on a thin ice right now; clearly it was too much to have me and Edward in the same room with her so I walked quietly outside.

I went downstairs and met Emmett by the foot of the stairs. He smiled slightly but it seemed rather forced. How hard this must be for him. I did understand Rosalie´s motivations but it was inexcusable how she had treated Emmett the past week. I had meant to talk to Emmett, I felt like he had been left out in this chaos. I he had tried to put up a smiling face like usually but I could see the pain in his eyes each time he looked at Rosalie.

I squeezed his shoulder in assurance, he smiled back. "I´m glad you´re here Carlisle. We would be a group of messed up people if you weren´t here." I know that he was trying to make light of the situation but he seemed to be failing miserably.

He looked up the staircase like he was forbidden to go upstairs.

"Emmett, why don´t you go upstairs and check on Rosalie. I think it would mean a lot to her." I said.

Emmett looked at me skeptically. "You really think so?"

"Yes, I do." I said while pushing him slightly forwards. "Besides I don´t think it´s wise to have Edward and Rosalie in the same room. I fear they might bite each other's head off."

Emmett raised his eyebrows, a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.

"Were you making a joke, Carlisle?" I smiled back and encouraged him to go upstairs. He smiled thankfully and hurried upstairs.

I went off to the living room. It was dark; the only light came from the moonlight. The living room was deserted except for Jasper. Esme must have gone to our bedroom. Alice was nowhere in sight.

I went up to Jasper who stood completely still by the window. I took my place beside him and stared at the dark forest outside.

"Is there any sign of them?"

Jasper shook his head. "No, but they could attack anytime. I´m not underestimating them and neither should you." He looked at me sideways.

"I assure you that I´m not but I hope that they won´t attack when Jacob and Seth are on our side."

Jasper looked straight ahead, deep in thought, then he looked at me and sighed.

"What if they're not on our side?" he said.

I stared at him in disbelief. After everything that they had done for us, how could he think such a thing? Then my rational side kicked in. Jasper was used to war and betrayal, he had lived a world were nothing mattered but death.

"Jasper, I understand your concern but think about it. Jacob would never hurt Bella that way."

Jasper looked doubtful. "Maybe your right, but I won´t take the chance" he said and turned his head towards the window. I decided to let it be and left Jasper alone by the window.

I went outside the porch to see if Jacob and Seth were anywhere to be seen. It didn't take me long to see them in the meadow. I sat down on the stone steps and stared straight ahead, enjoying the silence.

However, I didn´t get to enjoy the silence for long. In between the trees I saw Alice glide gracefully. She jumped like a ballerina to the step beside me. She looked better, she had clearly gone hunting.

"Can I sit?" she asked. I nodded my head and gestured towards the step beside me. Alice sat down gracefully and stared straight ahead.

"How are you Alice?" I asked her. Alice looked at me then shook her head and sighed heavily.

"I feel so tired. I feel so…normal and I hate it." She cried out.

I nodded my head thoughtfully. Everything seemed backwards, I could only imagine how it would feel for Alice. I had noticed that she had withdrawn herself away from everyone. She had barely spoken to Bella since she came, which I thought wouldn´t be possible. Then again I never thought any of this would be possible.

I put my arm around her thin shoulders in comfort; she leaned in and sighed again.

"What´s happening to the world? Everything feels so hopeless. I feel like I can´t rely on anything anymore." She muttered against my chest.

It was like she was speaking from my own heart. It was hopeless in so many ways.

"I mean, the whole family relies on Bella´s survival. If she dies then I don´t know what will happen." She continued deep in thought.

"Why does Edward always have to make things worse?" What was she talking about? Had Edward done something? Then I remembered the guilty look in his eyes. Could this have anything to do with that?

"What are you talking about Alice? What did Edward do?"

Alice looked at me with so much sadness in her eyes that it almost broke my heart. She moved slightly away from me and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Edward did something incredibly foolish. I don´t think he understands the severity of his actions." She paused and looked at the place where Jacob and Seth slept.

"Just tell me Alice." I begged her; I knew she had come here to talk to me about this. I had to know what was going on. Alice didn´t look at me but kept her gaze on the darkness. She took a deep breath then nodded her head.

"Yesterday when Jacob and Edward decided to talk, I sneaked off and listened to their conversation. They talked about Bella and her decision to save the fetus. They talked about the alternative, about what would happen if Bella would die." She paused and looked at me.

"Edward made Jacob promise him something, something terrible." Her lips trembled.

Suddenly I realized what she was going to say. I froze up, I couldn´t believe what she was saying. I hoped that Alice wasn´t about to tell me one of my worst fears.

"Edward made Jacob promise to kill him if Bella dies."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I told myself to calm myself, it would be all right. But I knew it wasn´t. In some ways I felt betrayed. I could have guessed this myself but I had believed, foolishly, that Edward would never do something like that again.

The day when he had come from Italy I had talked to him and asked him never to do anything like that ever again. He had given his promise, but now that I thought about it I realized how stupid I had been. Edward had said that he couldn´t imagine a life without Bella, but I had thought that he understood that killing himself wasn´t an option.

I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I´m sorry Carlisle. I know how hard this is for you but there is more. Few hours ago I went to hunt and I saw a terrible vision. I saw what would happen if Bella dies." The worry shone through Alice´s eyes. I tried to steady myself and listen to her.

"I saw Jacob killing Edward. Emmett and Jasper attacked him. Then the wolves started a battle against us and then…" A small sob escaped her lips. She didn´t have to say more, I knew what would happen. I took her small frame in my arms.

"I promise you that I will do everything that I can to save Bella. If it comes to that day that she won´t make it, I promise you that there won´t be a fight. We will survive this." And I meant it. I wasn't going to let that happen. As I held Alice in my arms I decided that it was time for me talk to Edward. I wasn´t going to let him destroy our family, he had crossed the line too many times.

That night I realized that this could truly become the end of the Cullen family.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Firstly I would like to say how incredibly sorry I´m for the lack of post. On another note, this chapter is mostly about the effect the wolves had on the family. Also I wanted to make more out of the scene between Edward and Jacob when Edward asked Jacob to kill him. I thought about the alternative, what exactly would happen if Bella would have died. Again, this is just what I think, it doesn´t have to mirror your ideas, although I would love to hear your suggestions.

Thank you to all who read the story and those who have sticked to it, especially to my wonderful reviewers. I hope you can forgive me for the lack of update.

Please review, it would make my day :)


End file.
